At Midnight last night the boys awoke to build a fire for our traditional pre-Thanksgiving turkey pit. This fire kept them warm until the early hours of the morning. They then made a pit out of the coals of the fire with Operations Director Phil Fairbrother where they stuffed the turkeys underground. This has been a yearly tradition for CCBS the night before Thanksgiving.

Watching the turkeys cook late into the night...

These are the students who braved the late night to cook our tasty turkey’s: (from left to right) Michael, Barron, Jimmy, Cole, Sam, and Dain.

Teacher Nick Linscott, together with the boys who stayed up all night, pulled out the turkeys the next morning after our traditional late night cookout. They then wheelbarrowed their way up to the kitchen where several students whipped on the aprons and started prepping the turkeys.

Its that time of year again! Every year at Thanksgiving Cherokee Creek Boys School pit-roasts our turkeys for our Thanksgiving feast. It is an honor to be selected for Team Turkey. This year’s crew (pictured above) includes (from left): Sam, Cole, Teacher Nick Linscott, Jimmy, Operations Director Phil Fairbrother, Dain, Michael, and Barron. The team’s responsibilities include staying up until the wee hours tending the roasting coals.

William, Sandy, and Barbara look on as Phil prepares the Turkeys

But first, the turkeys are seasoned and wrapped in foil (several times).

Phil, Cole, Dain, and Barron scope out the pit

Then the boys clear the area of leaves and debris before digging a HUGE pit.

Next, the boys and staff will create a bonfire in the pit, which will be nursed through the night until there is a well established bed of coals. Then the turkeys will be placed on the coals and burried.

Stay tuned for more updates tomorrow…

The 2010 Turkey Team: (from left) Adrian, Calvin, Jon, Ben, Drew, Daniel and Teacher Nick Linscott

Announcing this year’s Turkey Team: Adrian, Calvin, Jon, Ben, Drew and Daniel. These boys will work with staff members Phil Fairbrother and Nick Linscott to pit roast 5 turkeys for tomorrow’s Thanksgiving Day feast. It is an honor to be selected for this responsibility – and a lot of hard work. Check out their itinerary below:

• Wednesday afternoon the team will work with Academic Lead Nick Linscott to prepare the area for fire safety. They will then dig a large pit and lay a fire ready to be started in the middle of the night.
• In the wee hours of the night (around 12:00 AM Thanksgiving morning) Operations Director Phil Fairbrother will come in and wake the team. Together they will start the fire and fuel it with a lot of wood for the next 4 hours.
• At 5:00 AM the foil-wrapped turkeys will be placed in the pit of coals and covered with dirt where they will roast for 5-6 hours.
• Tomorrow morning Nick and the boys will gently unearth the birds and take them to the kitchen where they will perform their final task of preparing the meat for serving.

Stay tuned for more Turkey Team details and some photos from their all-night experience.